4 days in a row...

It's been really hard to concentrate at work lately. I just have no motivation to be there.. two weeks from today, we'll be on our way to North Carolina for a mini vacay and I can't freaking wait!

Strength:
OHS 5-5-5+
85-98-112(8)

Loved seeing these for strength. We've barely worked these and it's a refresher from all the back squat and front squat work. The last set I really wanted to get 10 reps, but my wrists weren't having any of it. I tried to stabilize, but I droped the bar because my wrists were hurting too bad. ugh. Worked on getting full depth on all these reps, ass to ankle. I catch every snatch at the bottom, so I might as well work that depth here!

WOD:
16:00 Amrap of:
15 ball slams (30/20)
200m run
30 Double Unders
7+3

I don't know if it was the fact that this was my 4th day in a row, but after the second round I was beat. I felt like this was going to be a hard earned workout, but I was shooting for near 8 rounds. ALL 7 rounds of my double unders were unbroken. That was awesome!  Same with ball slams.  My runs were pretty sluggish. I used that as my rest to get back in there and crank out my du's. Hoping my runs will pick up, they've been pretty slow lately.

cash out: 5 turkish get ups each side with 35# kb. then 3 x 4 dead hangs with red band.

Free for a Month

Spring semester is finished and I'm free until June 4th. I finished with an A and  B, I'm really happy with that since A&P is a pretty difficult course. I'll be taking the second half of that class this summer in an 8 week class, so it's going to be tough! But I'm ready for it. After my brain was fried from a 200 question final Monday night, I headed to the gym.

Our Strength and Wod were combined, and this is what it was:
Push Press 5-5-5+
Jerk 3-3-3-3-3 (work up to a have triple)
PP: 85-95-105(10 reps - i think?)
95-105-115-125-130

Haven't worked push press in awhile, so I wasn't really sure how accurate my 125 srm was. But I went with it anyway. Last few reps on the 5+ set were kind of ugly and I felt it in my back. Definitely didn't keep my core tight enough.

Wasn't sure how far to push it with the Jerks since I just got 145 a few weeks ago as my srm. And my arms were a little tired from the PP. But 125 felt pretty good and I felt like I could go up a few more pounds. The last rep at 130 I came out front, so I had B clean it and I repeated that rep. But I felt good overall.

Tuesday

Strength: Back Squat 5-5-5+ (base #s off 90% of TM. TM=176)
115-132-150(7)

I was a little delayed in starting my strength as I was talking to someone about the gym, so I had to rush through these sets. Hips are tight as usual, mom helped me with some stretching after. Gonna try to do that every day and see how that helps.

WOD:
3 Rounds for time of:
400m Row
10 Push ups
400m run
10 Pull ups
16:31

I actually underestimated this one. I forgot that the reps of 10 would be rather quick, so this would be more of a cardio workout. Which is something I needed. My pull-ups have been struggling lately, but I've added in extra work on dead hangs again, so they improved during this one. The first set was unbroken, second was 5-3-1-1, third was 5-2-2-1. I was pretty stoked with my first set, so I was hoping to do the same for the last two rounds. I fell short, but there's improvement. The row and push-ups gassed my quads like no other, so that slowed down my runs. However, I'm glad I finished this around 16.5 min!

Being Positive Makes a Difference

Tuseday was another long day at work. But I've been finding out more news about paths I can take with nursing, and I only have a couple things left before I can apply to the school. So I'm getting really excited. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel!!

I'm not gonna lie, when I first saw today's workout in the google doc, I was dreading every minute of it. 30 HSPU in a wod...it's like my worst nightmare lately....

Strength: Back squat 5(60%)-5(65%)-5(70%)-5(75%)
115-125-135-145

It's de-load week, prepping for next week! Just like yesterday with the OHS there would be a couple reps where I would just lose the tightness in my core and the rep would be hard fought. as long as I keep everything tight, I'm good to go. The one thing I want to get un-tight are my hips. Hoping this doesn't hurt me next week. Lots of leg mobility this week!

WOD:
800m run
10 HSPU
400m run
10HSPU
200m run
10HSPU
*used a 25# plate and ab mat
15:05

GAH! Right before we started the wod, I told Chris I was aiming for 5 HSPU a round. If I was able to do that, I would be very happy. Came in from the first run around 4:15, definitely not an all out sprint, but good enough. I was pretty much delaying the HSPU! Got to the wall and busted out 2 kipping HSPU. I was like hmm, ok, this might go better than expected. Then it was 2 more then 1's the rest of the way. Once I got to 5, and I felt pretty good about them, I decided I was going for 10 every round. There was no looking back after getting the 10 in the first round.

I knew they would be hard fought in the later rounds. But I wasn't going to give up. I wasn't going to let that negativity and hatred for HSPU seep into my head. I've been making strong improvements in the last few weeks, so I wouldn't let this bring me down if I struggled with it.

However, to my surprise, I only had like 3 or 4 failed attempts during the entire workout. Where I went to kip up, but just couldn't get up more than an inch. The last few workouts with HSPU have been absolute torture. But I removed those from my mind and just focused on the task at hand and stayed positive. The mental game is like 90% of the battle. You think you can't do it, well shit, you aren't going to do it. You tell yourself you're going to do it and you're sure as shit going to do it!

When I was done with the wod, I stayed to cheer on Kelly and Alex. We all struggle with HSPU's, well some of us, so every support you can get, dramatically helps! So as much as I hate HSPU, I'm glad they've been coming up more often in workouts! After the wod, I decided to try regionals standards...HOLY CRAP is it a huge difference. It doesn't look like a major difference, but geez. One day I will get there! :)

I'm hoping how great I've been feeling in the gym and the improvements I've been seeing there lately, transfer over to some weight loss. That's been a struggle for sure, but I know all the added stress in my life doesn't help. The gym keeps me going and fighting through all the 'suck' in life, so I'm especially thankful for that.

Praying for some good news or plan of attack today...

Small Steps

I forgot to blog about Tuesday's training session. So here it is.

I got to the gym a little early, so I decided to go for about a 1.25 mile run for a warm up to get my legs going. Defintely didn't go all out, just a nice smooth pace. Then I did a bunch of mobility on my legs and 30 wall balls.

Strength:
Back Squat 5 (70%)-5(80%)-3(85%)-2(90%)-1(100%)
5xbar - 5x83#- 5x133#-5x153#-3x163#-2x171#-1x190#

After my massage from Heather last week, my hips feel a little less tight. She said my hammies are super tight and that may be the reason my hips are so tight and hitting depth in the squat gets painful. So I've been making sure to roll out my hammies a lot more lately and it seems to be helping.

I think this is the best I've felt squatting in awhile. Depth was really easy to achieve and the bar didn't feel super heavy. Now that my hips are starting to feel better, I can descend a little faster and smoother than before and get out of the hole better. My right knee tends to come in a bit on the initial ascend, but I quickly adjust and push it out.

The 190# at my PR weight felt really good, looking forward to SRM in a couple weeks!

WOD:
4 Rounds of:
5 HSPU
10 Power Cleans (135/95)

time=??

So HSPU have been the evil goat lately for me. During the first round of HSPU I asked B if I could do 3 per round instead of 5, because I felt like that would be more of a realistic chance for me. I got the 3 in the first round and went straight to the bar. The cleans felt somewhat heavy because we haven't really worked this movement lately. Between the Open and my class on Saturday, I definitely haven't been getting in the Oly work I want.

Second round I got 2 HSPU and struggled to get the third. After A LOT of attempts, I got the third. Went to the cleans and felt good. At this point, I didn't care about my time, I was just going at it to try and get the HSPU.

Third round, got the first HSPU, then struggled like no other. I probably spent a good 3 minutes at least here. B tried helping me with my form and said it looks 100 times better. My lack of upper body strength for my body weight is what comes into play here. So I went to the bar and did the cleans.

Fourth round, got the first HSPU again and once again struggled like no other on the last 2. I somehow squeezed out a second after countless attempts. Then more attempts, I couldn't get the third. So I decided to do the cleans then go back to the wall, and somehow, got it on the first try.

While this is still frustrating how difficult HSPU are for me, I'm happy with how that went. Sounds pathetic, but I'm feeling more comfortable with that position and the kip. More tripod work to build the core and upper body work!

Yesterday, we finished our cleanse. It was the first day that I was absolutely starving!! And whenever someone talked about food I just wanted to eat it all. haha. But I was good. I stuck to the cleanse as I was supposed to and got some great results. Didn't do my measurements this morning because I didn't have time, but probably will tomorrow. However, I did lose 5.5 pounds. I know it's mostly water weight, but I feel better. I feel less bloated and frumpy. Now is the time to make smart decisions and not eff it all up on the weekends. Here's to staying positive! :)

2k row 1k run

Slacked on the blog last week, but there wasn't much to post.

Started a new cleanse/diet on Monday. Alicia, Mom, Hannah and I are doing it and keeping each other on track. hoping this helps get of the plateau we've been on and can get where we want.

Monday:
Strength: Press 3-3-3-3-3 @ 85% of 1RM - used 83# (which is more like 89% of 1Rm, didn't want to switch weights since I was sharing a bar, 85% would've been 80.5#)

-Press needs work, so I decided to just go up to the same weight as Julie, whom I was sharing a bar with.
-Definitely heavy, and a couple of the sets were ugly.
-Such a simple yet difficult lift, must get stronger.

WOD:
2K row - 8:21
2K run - approx 5:45
14:27

-Decided not to go all out on the row and just pace myself. Stayed around 2:05-2:10/500m and about 26-28 s/m
-Sped up the last 250m, but didn't want to smoke my legs for the run
-Started my run probably close to 8:50-8:55 after slowly getting off the rower, walking down the stairs and across the gym.
-Went hard, but definitely not a sprint, my breathing was really off.
-Went back to run with mom and she ran about 200+m extra than she had too. Scared me shitless since I couldn't see her and thought she was on the ground. ugh.
-So I got in about 1.25 miles of running tonight.

-liked the pure cardio work today, nice way to ease into the week after being sore from Sunday and starting the cleanse.


Last night was kind of an eye opening/depressing night. I took pictures in the same bikini I was taking pics in since I started CF, but the last time I took pics in it was last April. That's when I won the BBC at Fire, and I really leaned out. Comparing them to the ones I took last night just made me cry. I know I've put on more muscle, but yuck. I have a long way to go and I hope I can get out of this hole and find whatever I had in me last spring to get there. I know a lot has changed since then, i.e. school, jer's health, etc. but I don't know...trying to stay positive...